A Full-Size Evangelion EVA Unit-01 Has Appeared in Kyoto!

Evangelion fans rejoice, you can now feel exactly what it's like standing in the palm of a real-life EVA Unit-01! Well, perhaps it's not quite the real thing, but the huge new Evangelion structure at Toei Kyoto Studio Park is about as close as you're going to get! Bringing everything a little closer to the ground, this new attraction at the Kyoto theme park is a replica of an EVA Unit-01 torso and arm, half-immersed in a red LCL pool. But the missing legs don't make the new EVA any less impressive, as it still towers 15 meters (almost 50 ft) high. Visitors will not only be able to stroll out onto the outstretched hand, but also try their hand at piloting the thing, getting right into the entry plug, opening up those bi-directional circuits, and testing their own synchronization rate. (Maybe with the right pilot at the helm the whole thing will rise up right out of the LCL pool!?)

Well, it might not be a real EVA unit, but there's no question that it will be an amazing place for a photo or two! Eva fans won't be able to put the camera away.

According to the official website, the official attraction opening will be October 3rd 2020, but throughout August and September the park will hold special premium preview days where just 120 people can check it out early.

What you may not know is that Toei Kyoto Studio Park is no average theme park―it's a historical recreation of a traditional Japanese town from centuries past, used by Toei Studios to film actual film and television. So it's no surprise that the limited-edition Evangelion merchandise they offer is pretty unique, and very appropriate for Kyoto. Check out Shinji, Asuka, Rei, Kaworu, and Mari in kimono and other outfits you'd see in a Japanese historical drama.

With the new Evangelion movie being released later this year, there are plenty of specialty products and projects going on in collaboration throughout 2020, like an Evangelion line at Japanese fast-fashion store GU, and a special Evangelion themed pop-up cafe going on for just a couple months this summer. And if you're already planning a trip to Kyoto just to check the EVA Unit-01 out, we know just the place for you to stay the night: a capsule hotel made from manga-filled bookshelves!